Last week I was caging it up out of the Anza Borrego valley and came upon a downed moto rider. He was riding with buddies on his Harley bagger and crossed the double yellow hitting a small car in the car's left front fender area.

By the time I got there others had just stopped to assist. I have had some first aid training so I did a primary and secondary survey and waited for the paramedics to arrive which took about 20 minutes.

The worst of his injuries was his ankle. It was broken and nearly severed just above the ankle and the front of the ankle going up to the mid shin was slit wide open with bone, guts and muscle exposed. He had sensation in his foot but it was turned 90 degrees and appeared to be attached only by skin.

He was wearing pretty good gear overall (for a Harley dude, sorry Harley dudes) but his boot choice may have cost him his foot. He was wearing light hiking boots that barely covered his ankle. I believe his ankle impacted directly the bumper of the car. I have spent the last 4 days trying to figure out what my foot would look like had this happen to me with my riding boots.

His boots were too low and his leather jeans offered no protection, hence really bad injury. I wear Sidi Canyons which are heavy and have thick leather around ankle and shin. My believe is that my ankle would be broken or crushed but my skin would not have been opened up. I would have been much better off however after seeing his foot I want more protection. I am going to retire my Canyons and ride only with my Sidi Crossfire boots which are motocross boots with a thick plastic ankle and shin piece in the front of the boot. My believe is that if I were wearing the Crossfires in that same crash I would maybe have a break and would certainly not have any cuts.

I am interested in what adventure or touring boots out there have a HARD front ankle and shin guard piece. Anyone know of such a boot?

When I was in high school a LONG time ago I saw the exact same type of injury. A guy in an MG turned in front (left) of a guy on a vintage Honda of some sort. His foot was hanging by skin. He lost the foot. I honestly do not think this can be avoided no mater what boot you wear. If you hit something (body wise) all of that energy is going to go somewhere. So if you were wearing titanium boots you will break whatever right above where the boots are (your leg likely). All you could possibly do in that moment of time where it seems like the crash is happening in slow motion is lift that leg up.

That being said. There are a TON of scenarios where riding boots are going to do better than hiking boots.... Like sliding along the pavement at 70 mph with the bike on your leg.....

When I was in high school a LONG time ago I saw the exact same type of injury. A guy in an MG turned in front (left) of a guy on a vintage Honda of some sort. His foot was hanging by skin. He lost the foot. I honestly do not think this can be avoided no mater what boot you wear. If you hit something (body wise) all of that energy is going to go somewhere. So if you were wearing titanium boots you will break whatever right above where the boots are (your leg likely). All you could possibly do in that moment of time where it seems like the crash is happening in slow motion is lift that leg up.

That being said. There are a TON of scenarios where riding boots are going to do better than hiking boots.... Like sliding along the pavement at 70 mph with the bike on your leg.....

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Back when I wore cowboy boots for motorcycle boots (we're talking 1969 here) I was making a left turn. VW was stopped at the stop sign on the road I was turning into. It was on campus, my speed about 15 mph for the turn. Something made me jerk my leg up and wham I was down. Driver of the VW had decided to pull out just when I was in front of him.

His bumper hit my R3 Yamaha just about where my knee would have been. Even though low speed I suspect the damage to my leg would have been pretty severe had I not yanked it up.

Have no clue why I yanked my leg up. As it was had a sprained wrist, destroyed helmet (landed right on top of it and did a roll - didn't think I hit my head that hard but the helmet was toast) and an R3 that was never the same....

I wear my Crossfires as much as possible. If you are considering Crossfires you may also need to consider a new riding pant as they are extremely wide at the top and many "over the boot" style pants will not stretch to fit them. I know that my Roadcrafter will not work with my Crossfires but every Klim pant I have ever owned fit them no problem.
I have spoke to a designer at Klim about this and he told me that they actually design their pants with the Crossfire in mind since they know it is possibly the largest upper diameter boot on the market. The large diameter is due to the amount of protection the Crossfire gives as well as the fact that you can make the calf area larger (looser) or smaller (tighter) which is not an option on most boots.
Good gear is an investment that pays for itself and so is a healthy body.

Something to think about. The medical field has seen a change in injuries with the adoption of better motorcycle boots. Since the adoption of motocross boots by many injuries to the knee started showing up. The motorcycle industry responded by selling knee braces to the riding public. Now the medical field is seeing a large increase of hip injuries. Seems as if the injury is still going to occur, it is just what part of the body is going to be injured.

This op's accident that he saw sounds is if it might have been a crushing type of injury. I am not sure even armor would have kept this injury from happening although I am not sure as I didn't see the leg myself.

I do wish that motorcyclist the best out of this accident. I suspect that the loss of his foot is only one of several problems he is facing.

Each accident is different of course but here is a bit more. The injury to this rider's leg was almost a "pinching off" of the guy's foot. I think the bumper hit the guy just above the ankle and snapped the foot almost off. Neither the foot nor the shin were crushed.

I do own the Sidi Crossfires already and will be wearing those in the future. As stated above they are wide and do not fit with my Rukka pants. I think I will get some KLIM pants and will start wearing my knee guards under my pant rather than use the in-pant pads. I am convinced that this affords better protection.

Aerostich Combat boots are the same,flexy flier boots from olden days,any boot called an adventure boot is usually pretty weak but nice to walk in.

The last pair of Tech-7 Alpinestars I had were weakling boots,they were the 2013 model,2 rides and they were gone,nearly smashed the outer part of my foot wearing them and then saw how flimsy they were + the buckles are damn near impossible to open or close,never could get them properly snug.

Any dirt boot that costs under 200.00 is probably junk and will fall apart + suck to wear,actually 400.00 is getting to be the point where they are good boots. Feet are pricey best to get real boots.

Funny how it takes an incident like this to reevaluate one's gear. I will only be riding with my Sidi Crossfires from now on with knee guards under my pants. After looking at the price of Klim pants I'm going to have my Rukka pants tailored to accept their large circumference.

Now the problem is what to put on my sweetheart's feet (the one in bright blue in the accident photo) I can't find a good pair of motocross boots for women. All I see are the entry level boots from Alpinestars, Sidi and Thor and they all look flimsy. Any ideas?

The last pair of Tech-7 Alpinestars I had were weakling boots,they were the 2013 model,2 rides and they were gone,nearly smashed the outer part of my foot wearing them and then saw how flimsy they were + the buckles are damn near impossible to open or close,never could get them properly snug.

I was wearing alpinestar tech 8 boots when a car ran a stop sign and hit me on the right side, the front clip of the car was torn off. The day before a friend asked me as I was getting dressed if all that-jacket, helmet motocross boots- took away from the fun of riding. I had no leg injury, the boots were pretty gouged up though. I was riding a KLR and was used to wearing Motocross boots from years of riding an XR in the woods.

I wear my Crossfires as much as possible. If you are considering Crossfires you may also need to consider a new riding pant as they are extremely wide at the top and many "over the boot" style pants will not stretch to fit them. I know that my Roadcrafter will not work with my Crossfires but every Klim pant I have ever owned fit them no problem.
I have spoke to a designer at Klim about this and he told me that they actually design their pants with the Crossfire in mind since they know it is possibly the largest upper diameter boot on the market. The large diameter is due to the amount of protection the Crossfire gives as well as the fact that you can make the calf area larger (looser) or smaller (tighter) which is not an option on most boots.
Good gear is an investment that pays for itself and so is a healthy body.

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I only ride in my Crossfires. I know people say it's a motocross boot, but I find them to be totally fine for riding all day and walking is no big deal at all. I use them to commute daily, for touring, whatever kind of bike I'm on.

Technically they're not waterproof, but I've been caught in torrential downpours and when I get home as long as I haven't submerged my foot in deep deep water, I'm always dry.

As far as pants go, I buy boot cut jeans which fit with no problem over the Crossfires, and then Olympia overpants which also fit over them with no problem.

Back in the mid 80's a friend of mine ran wide in a corner and caught his lower leg on the rear bumper of a car going the other way. He was wearing full leathers and boots and the rear bumper de-gloved his lower leg. He didn't loose the leg but it was pretty nasty injury. Sometimes it doesn't matter what you are wearing. Poop just happens.